Sunday
by Rotten Glee
Summary: A special Sunday, in Uzumaki Naruto's opinion, was a Sunday like any other. But it would be a special Sunday, still. NaruSasu, KyuuSasu, NejiShika, IruKa, SakuIno.


Title: Sunday

Author: Kaeru

Pairings: NaruSasu, KyuuSasu, NejiShika, IruKa, SakuIno, and various others.

Rating: M/MA

Summary: A special Sunday, in Uzumaki Naruto's opinion, was a Sunday like any other. But it would be a special Sunday, still. NaruSasu, KyuuSasu, NejiShika, IruKa, SakuIno.

Warnings: Yaoi, shoujo ai (as the phrase implies, it's nothing hardcore; just mentions and soft descriptions of girls love), language, probable incorrect portrayals of lives as local band members (I've never been in a band, but my cousin, who is a member of a local band, tells me it's pretty much normal, just a little hectic, so if that's how his life is… Well, I'm trying to get it somewhat like that).

Disclaimer: This will only appear once (I'm getting tired of rewriting it… /sweatdrops/), so keep in mind; I don't own Naruto.

Kaeru: Hi… I'm really sorry!! I swear, I tried to update! I really did! But my brain won't listen to me, so I haven't been able to write anything… Except for this. I blame this little baby on Yakitate!! JaPan. grimaces God, the TV's been showing that show's reruns for WEEKS. I love Kazuma, honestly, I do, but when you see him everyday, saying the same thing everyday, in weird English voices everyday… /shudders/ It does things to the mind… Unhealthy things… Urgh… Anyway, the first ending song is a wonder! And the song's what the story is about. So if you know the song, and have the translations, then you might get a picture of what I'm about to paint.

Another thing; if you're really OCD like me, or just not dumb, then you'll notice my writing's changed. A lot. The result of my damaged brain, evidently. I'll probably be writing in this style for my other stories from here on out, too. I dunno… I don't like it, but I'm having difficulty reverting back to my old style… /cries/ It's so unfair!!

* * *

Ages:

Itachi- 23

Temari- 21

Sakura- 21

Ino- 21

Kankurou- 20

Naruto- 19

Gaara- 19

Sai- 19

Kiba- 19

Neji- 19

Hinata- 19

Sasuke- 17 (going on 18 soon)

(They are all three years younger in the flashbacks unless I say otherwise)

* * *

Glossary:

* * *

Baka-kitsune- idiot fox

Kuso-itachi- damn weasel (for those of you who don't know, Itachi's name means weasel)

Urusei- shut up (slang; the original is urusai, but teenagers say urusei)

Daijoubu ka- are you alright?

Daijoubu da- I'm fine

Baka- idiot

-kun- an honorific added to the end of the name of an acquaintance

Dare- who

Sasuke desu- Sasuke/I'm Sasuke (brief and non-committal)

Jaa matta- I'll see you later

Betsuni- it's nothing

Wakatta yo- I know (kinda petulant sounding)

Motto hayaku nai- not so fast

Sumimasen- excuse me

Matte- wait

Nani- what

Kochira- this way

Sugoi- awesome/cool

Dobe- dead last/blockhead

Teme- a very rude way of saying 'you' (usually added to the end of a person's name, so technically… writers who write Naruto calling Sasuke just teme are wrong… But who cares! XD)

Omae was Uzumaki Naruto desu- you are Uzumaki Naruto (note that Sasuke uses omae, instead of anata, or onamae no. Either of the latter two would be politer than omae because omae is usually used by someone of higher status, such as a lord, to address someone with a lower or no status, such as a peasant. That's why Naruto's pissed off)

Otouto- little brother

Ganbatte- do your best

* * *

Chapter I: Sunday

* * *

Naruto-sama

I like Sundays.

Nah, scratch that, I _love _Sundays.

Things always happen on Sundays, ya know? Parties, picnics, gigs; all the good shit that any teen would die to have happen to them.

Hell, I hear some working couples only have sex on Sundays.

Me, personally, I wouldn't go that far. Sex is a must have; what else are you gonna do with hormones, right? You can't keep introducing yourself to the same five (or ten) fingers every time you get a boner from some chick flashing her panties or something.

It gets old.

Anyway, where was I?

Oh yeah!

I like Sundays.

A lot of good shit happens to me on Sundays.

Gigs are usually booked on Sundays. I celebrate my birthdays on Sundays. The only time I ever get to spend some quality time with my dad is on Sundays. The first time I ever got an A in Math was on a Sunday (I had skipped school for a whole week during mid-year exams and had to take everything during the weekend… I can still remember Ebisu-sensei's face when he heard _he _had to overlook my examination).

And…

Of course, I met Uchiha Sasuke on a Sunday.

* * *

It was Sunday.

Obviously.

And usually, I'd be sleeping like the dead until Iruka either came and dragged me out at around noon, or I stay in bed in a near-comatose state until three.

This particular Sunday, I chose to carry out the latter (Iruka was at Kakashi's; three guesses why and the first two don't count).

Unfortunately for me, Gaara, my drummer (and THE best drummer ever, might I add), has a short temper and woe is me to suffer from short term memory loss.

So I soon found myself drenched in ice cold water, in nothing but boxers, at ten frickin' am in the frickin' morning.

Gaara, the little prick, was standing at the foot of my bed, looking too calm for someone about to be pounded into the ground by a dripping wet hottie who just happens to appreciate sleeping in on Sundays like NORMAL people (hear that, Gaara?! NORMAL people!).

"What the fuck did you do that for?!" I spluttered, shivering uncontrollably. You can't blame! It must've been negative eight degrees in there or something. I couldn't even feel my toes!

Gaara didn't even blink a green eye. "You have half an hour to shower, dress, consume the breakfast Temari has painstakingly made for you downstairs and join the others in the Van outside, or I will come back in here and drag you out myself, boxers or no boxers."

Without so much as a scowl or a glare, he disappeared out the door, leaving me to freeze to my death on a drenched bed (which I knew Iruka was going to kill me for, later).

I have such wonderful friends, don't I?

It took a while, but I managed to shower and get ready in ten minutes (a new record for me at the time; I usually took an hour to find the right clothes to wear) and, grabbing a piece of toast on a plate at the kitchen counter and hastily grabbing some scrambled eggs to spread out on it, I grabbed my guitar from where it always leaned against the wall next to the front door and raced out of the house, nearly forgetting to lock the door behind me.

The Van, as we called the rusty, banged-up piece of junk that Kankurou swore he would never get rid of even though he had more than enough money to buy a newer ride, was parked right outside the front yard and I could swear it was jumping a little from the loud music Kiba had playing on the CD player.

"Naruto, you piece of shit, you forgot again, didn't you?!" yelled the dog-lover, sticking his spiky brown head out of the front passenger window.

I mock-banged him with the bottom of my guitar and squeezed into the back, finding a seat between a red-faced Ino and a smug-looking Sakura.

"Finally!" said Ino, flipping her blond ponytail over her shoulder while glaring at me, her pretty, pale blue eyes narrowed. "You stupid bastard! I bet if Gaara hadn't gone in there, we would've never left!"

I grinned sheepishly and apologetically. "Maa, sorry Ino! Guess dog-boy is right for once! I kinda forgot."

Ino rolled her eyes, but I could see her anger dissipating. She never could hold grudges. Against me, anyway.

Sakura leaned over me to bang the back of Kiba's seat.

"Oi! Turn that shit down, dog-breath! I can't hear myself thinking!"

I could hear Kiba yell something at her, but not clearly, and after a moment, the music slowly faded into something of a dull droning from the front.

Sakura, satisfied, moved and jumped over to sit in front of the seat opposite from me, grinning.

"Hah, it's fine, Naruto," she said. "We kinda figured you would forget." Ino muttered, "Again," from beside me and I laughed. Sakura shot her a smug smile. "Some of us, though, still had hopes."

"Forehead!" yelled Ino suddenly. "You tricked me!"

Sakura just laughed, patting the pink Prada purse she always had on her (don't ask me where she hides it… All I got from asking her was a vicious punch in the face… As if it was my fault I was curious about where she hid that pencil-box-sized thing while wearing nothing but a strapless top and mini skirt… Girls are so weird!) happily.

"What are you talking about, pig?" she asked innocently. "It was a fair bet."

"You two were betting on me?" I asked, raising a brow.

Sakura shrugged. "Correction; the whole band, with the exception of Gaara, betted _against _you. Ino betted that you wouldn't forget today's gig for a change."

Ino huffed. "Well, it _is _the biggest thing we've had in, say, our _whole life_!" She sent me a glare. "I thought you, of all people, would've remembered. You're the one who always said we'd make it big."

I saw her point.

You see, that night, a new club was being opened, right outside of our quaint little neighborhood, Konohagakure (the name doesn't lie; if you didn't know Konoha existed, you'd never find it. It's a jungle out of the city borders!). I say neighborhood even though it's technically a city because people around here know everything about everybody, even though it's pretty big. It's kinda creepy sometimes, but that's life here as we knew it.

Anyway, we don't get a lot of excitement (except for the few teen-friendly bars somewhere near the east side of Konoha and, of course, _Ichiraku_'s) around here, so when news of a club opening right outside the city reached our ears, we were ecstatic to find that our band had been invited to be the opening act.

Not only was it the newest and hottest (with the exception of moí) thing since Ichiraku's, our self-appointed 'manager', Shikamaru, had told us that the owner was some rich bastard who was looking for something fresh and was particularly interested in us, for some reason or another.

It was too good to be true. I hadn't been able to sleep at all from the excitement when Shikamaru told us last week, so when yesterday came, I had been exhausted, hence my decision to sleep in that morning.

Ino and Sakura had started to argue about something again, so I tuned them out and, clutching my guitar tightly, eventually dozed off.

* * *

The sudden lurch to a stop brought me out of my dreamless nap and I jerked awake, falling smack dab on my face onto the seat Sakura had been in.

I wiped off a little drool from the corner of my mouth with my sleeve and looked around groggily.

Sakura was already standing, hunched over like an old hag in order to avoid banging her head against the ceiling of the Van, her hands poised and ready to push open the doors.

"We're here?" I asked a little stupidly, my brain still catching up to my surroundings.

Sakura didn't bother to answer and just jumped out, Ino close behind. I stared blankly for a moment and almost fell asleep again if Kiba hadn't come round to the doors and dragged me out.

"C'mon, idiot," he grumbled, pulling me in the direction I assumed the club was in.

I growled at him in response and pulled away from his clutches, shaking my head to get rid of my drowsiness. I was surprised to see my guitar still clutched in my hands and shrugged before running after Kiba, who was a good distance away by now.

I couldn't see Ino or Sakura anywhere, so I assumed they'd already entered the brick-walled building I was just now noticing in front of me. It was pretty big, maybe seven, six stories high, and the windows were tinted glass, making it hard to see what was inside.

Kiba disappeared through the large red double doors at the front of the building, a flashing neon sign that read 'U2' on top of it.

I stared at the neon for a moment (what? Neon lights are really cool…) before going through the doors.

What greeted me on the other side was absolutely breathtaking and I froze with my mouth wide open.

You know those places the parties in movies always take place at? Ya know, the flashing lights, the loud music, the dimly-lit rooms and euphoric atmosphere?

Well, the place had everything you could ever imagine you'd need to have parties ten times better than what you see on TV. And I mean _everything_.

It was so cool I almost started squealing.

And that's saying something.

"Catching flies, baka-kitsune?"

The deep, smooth voice that was practically screaming sex appeal made me jump and I turned to gaze into blood red orbs.

My jaw dropped lower to the floor.

"Itachi?!"

The pale-skinned, ebony-haired man smirked his world famous smirk and I would've smacked him upright his big head if I hadn't been so happy.

I glomped him instead.

"What the hell, man!" I yelled, laughing loudly. "I haven't seen you since pre-k, weasel!"

Itachi staggered under my weight, but managed to stay relatively upright. Che. You gotta respect him for that. The man was strong. Stronger than I remembered him.

"You've certainly gotten bigger," he commented lightly, still smirking. "And heavier," he added, smirk widening.

I glared at him before jumping away a little.

"Urusei, kuso-itachi," I snapped, and then grinned. "Where have you been, man? You up and left without so much as a 'see ya later'! You owe me a piggyback ride!" I pointed an accusing finger at him.

Itachi's smirk disappeared, to be replaced by a rare smile I hadn't seen since I was five.

"You and my otouto both, Naruto," he said softly, and my finger immediately dropped.

"Otouto?" I repeated. "You told me you didn't have any family," I pointed out, frowning.

Itachi's smile thinned a little and I saw a weird look in his eyes. "That's what _I_ thought," he muttered, before smirking again. "Enough about that, though. I hear you've become quite the musician, Naruto." His brow rose elegantly in a playful manner. "I told you writing poetry wouldn't make people think you're girly."

He was obviously avoiding the subject of his family and sudden disappearance from Konoha, so I decided to let it slide. For now.

"Kuso-itachi!" I yelled instead, glaring. "_You _were the one who said it was silly and girly of me to write poetry!"

Itachi shrugged. "Made you determined to prove me wrong, though, didn't it?"

I growled. "Yeah, but it also made people think I was girly, too, just 'cos you said so."

Itachi chuckled. I continued to glare.

"Calm down, baka-kitsune," he said. "It doesn't matter now. You're a great singer and songwriter and you have your own band now, right? Does it really matter that you used to be known as an emo?"

I huffed. "I am _so _not emo," I scoffed. "And flattery's not going to get me to forgive you for running off without a word. Or calling me girly."

Itachi smirked. "Well, if that won't… Would offering you to play here in honor of my club's opening do?"

I glared at him before his words finally registered into my brain.

"_Y_-_you're_ club?!" I stuttered, not believing him.

Itachi shrugged. "That's what I said."

Itachi doesn't joke a lot. I learnt that ages ago when he threatened to kick my arse for peeking into the bathroom while he was showering. I was five, okay? I used to think he was an alien (who the hell has red eyes, man?) and wanted to prove myself right.

For some reason or another, I thought being in the shower meant he would be in his 'alien form'. Itachi, bastard that he is, caught me in the act and I spent the rest of the day limping from extreme rear end pain (not _that_ kind of pain, you perve!).

So, from past experience, I knew he wasn't lying at that moment.

And I fainted.

Yeah, I'm man enough to admit it. I mean, honestly! The man had been my idol for the most of my short life and he had disappeared without a word only to reappear and tell me he owned the club that was my big break to possible stardom.

You tell me you wouldn't have a heart attack.

When I woke up, I could hear Itachi speaking. His voice was a little far away sounding, so I assumed he was. When I opened my eyes, though, I saw his back directly in front of me.

The person he was talking to was short (shorter than Itachi but just a tiny bit taller than me), with spiky raven hair that made me think of a duck's butt for some reason. His skin was pale, and I mean paper-white pale, just like Itachi, and when my eyes focused some more, I had to wonder if I had a concussion or something.

The kid was an exact clone of Itachi.

Black, black eyes, smoldering with obvious and barely repressed anger, turned to me suddenly and I froze in the middle of sitting up in the bed I was lying on.

Itachi turned around and walked round the bed to lean over the side, ignoring the glaring kid. His red eyes were fixed on me, concern clear as rain (just for the record, I really don't think that rain's all that clear… I mean, it blurs your vision when it drops into your eyes, no?).

"Daijoubu ka, Naruto-kun?" he asked.

I raised a brow almost instinctively. "-kun, Itachi? I haven't heard that to my name in years…"

Itachi sighed in relief and smirked lightly. "Baka. You almost gave me a heart attack."

I rolled my eyes in reply. "Daijoubu da, Itachi." I blinked once before glancing over to the other kid in the room. "Dare?"

The kid automatically glared at me and I subtly shivered, looking at Itachi, alarmed.

"Sasuke desu," said the kid curtly before glaring at Itachi and saying stiffly, "Jaa matta."

With that, he whirled on his feet and left, slamming the door on the other end of the room loudly behind him.

I winced at the loud noise in the painfully silent room and stared at the door a while before turning back to Itachi. His eyes were still fixed on the closed door and I scowled at the pained look in his normally stoic eyes.

"'tachi…?" I called softly.

Itachi sighed before turning to me and smirking.

"Betsuni," he said, shrugging lightly. "The young emo you had the pleasure of meeting just now was my otouto, Sasuke."

I made a face. "Wow. I never would've guessed."

Itachi obviously noted my sarcasm and smacked me atop the head.

"Baka," he said. "Be nice. He's having trouble… adjusting. We just moved, after all."

I nodded while rubbing my head. "Yea, yea. I was just joking. You don't have to hit me." My tone became more serious. "Itachi… You can't avoid it forever. You know that, right?"

Itachi tensed almost invisibly. Then his eyes narrowed and he looked away. "Wakatta yo…"

Sighing, I punched him lightly on the arm. "Maa, lighten up. I just want to know where you've been and where the hell did you get a mini-me." I winked when he turned slightly to look at my grinning face. "I've always wanted one."

Itachi rolled his eyes before chuckling. "Naruto… You never change, do you?"

I smirked. "What's there to change? I'm perfect!"

"Well, Mr. Perfect, if you don't hurry up and get ready, your biggest gig isn't going to happen tonight," Sakura's voice floated into my ears and I looked to the side to see her slipping in almost soundlessly.

My eyes widened once her words registered to my brain. "THE GIG!" I shouted, jumping off the bed and falling onto my face on the floor due to the sheets tangled up between my legs. "Ima nanji ka?!"

I vaguely saw Sakura's confused face and Itachi translating for her ("He asked what time it is.") while scrambling around, though I wasn't really sure _what _I was scrambling around for.

When I tripped over a short stool and almost kissed the floor again, Itachi caught me by the arm and gripped me tightly, bringing my panicking to a momentary pause.

"Motto hayaku nai, baka-kitsune," he said, smacking me on the head with his free hand. "You have fifteen minutes, still. Just go get ready in the dressing room. Everything else has been arranged."

I didn't even bother snapping at him for smacking me and instead just hugged him and kissed him lightly on the lips in thanks before dashing out of the room. I was running down the darkly-lit hall outside when I realized I had no idea where the dressing room was.

I skidded to a stop and cursed loudly, turning around to head back, only to realize that…

There were close to a hundred doors lining the walls (of course, it was later when I would realize that there were only six… blame it on my panic…), and hell if I was gonna waste time going through all of them just to ask where the dressing room was.

Cursing again, I turned round and started down the hall once more, looking around frantically for any sign of a dressing room.

There was a turn to the left at the end of the hall and when I turned, scary dark eyes burned into me from the other side.

I shrieked (ahem!)- I mean, _yelled_, loudly and jumped back a little in fear (_surprise_, dammit!).

Sasuke's eyes narrowed and he glared. "Sumimasen," he muttered after a moment before brushing past me.

I'm a poet at heart, you see. I mean, come _on_, I write songs for my band, don't I? And even though I'm not very fond of writing love songs (Kiba would _never_ let me live it down), I really do enjoy romanticizing stuff sometimes.

And that moment, man! It was just begging to be a love scene.

His shoulder, maybe just a teensy, weensy bit higher than mine, brushed against me as he moved, gracefully and elegantly, and my eyes widened as time seemed to slow down in that one moment.

I could smell him, weird as that sounds, and his breathing was clear as rain to my already-sharper-than-normal ears. I was half-turning in slow-mo and my mouth was nearly touching his pale cheek.

Then it was all over just too fast and Sasuke was three steps away behind me when I turned fully and held out a hand to grab his shoulder.

"Matte!"

Surprisingly, he did wait. But that's probably because I was gripping his shirt like my life depended on it. It didn't matter why, though, 'cos he did stop and he turned around to glare at me, even though there was something akin to shock in his burning orbs.

Truthfully, I don't know why I stopped him. I mean, it was pretty obvious he didn't like me, if the glares were saying anything (which they _were_). So when he glared at me for the umpteenth time, I almost pissed in my pants.

"Nani?"

His deep-but-not-too-deep voice resonated loudly in the hall and I would've let go of his shirt if I hadn't been too scared to do so. Just when I thought he was about to snap and kill me right then and there, I suddenly remembered what I was supposed to be doing at the moment.

"I'm lost!" I blurted, wincing at how lame it sounded, even to my own ears. When Sasuke didn't say anything, though, I continued. "I'm supposed to be in the dressing room, but Itachi never told me where it was and I was running and panicking and then there were doors and doors and stuff and I didn't have time so I just ran back and then I got here and then I saw you and you were walking away so I stopped you, you know, 'cos you probably know where the dressing room is, that's what I thought, so here we are, now, and I'm lost so…

"Can you show me where the dressing room is?" I finished, sounding very sheepish.

Sasuke kept silent for a full minute, staring at me, and I began to wonder if he even understood a word I had said. I mean, now that I thought of it, I only ever heard him talk in Japanese, so maybe he didn't know English?

I was about to start explaining again, in Japanese, when he suddenly narrowed his eyes and started down the hall.

"Kochira," he said over his shoulder.

I sighed in relief and started after him. We walked in silence for most of the time, since I assumed he was the kind of guy who didn't talk much, and after exiting the hall I'd come from on the other end, we entered a larger room with four doors on each wall.

Sasuke headed to the one right on the opposite of the door we came in through and opened it. I walked in when he stepped to the side, raising a brow at the instruments piled inside. My jaw dropped open.

_I love you, Itachi!_ I screamed in my mind, dazedly walking towards the state the art orange and black electric guitar propped against the wall on the other end.

My hands were raised in front of me like a beggar and I probably looked stupid. But I didn't care. The thing was a beauty, I tell you. I'd never dreamed I'd ever see it in my life.

"Sugoi…" I murmured unknowingly.

There was an annoyed sigh behind me and I was snapped out of my trance. Whirling around, I saw Sasuke still standing in the doorway, arms crossed and a bored-irritated expression on his pretty face.

"Err, thanks, Sasuke," I said, rubbing my head sheepishly. "I mean, if it weren't for you, I'd probably be wandering around for hours! I really appreciate--"

"Dobe."

I froze at the interruption-slash-insult and gaped at him.

Sasuke just scoffed and turned a little to the side, glaring at me out of the corner of my eyes.

"I have no idea what my brother sees in you," he muttered venomously, "but I doubt it's there. You're nothing but a dobe. You don't belong here, so go home."

My jaw hit the ground and I stared at the pale teen. It was more out of shock that he had actually spoken than what he had said, really. I mean, the guy barely spoke three words in one sentence to me. And all of a sudden he'd ranted. It was almost as shocking as Itachi telling me that he was the owner of the club.

Of course, all this flashed through my mind before Sasuke's words actually hit me and when they did, I was furious.

Angrily, I lowered my hand and growled lowly.

"Teme!" I shouted. "Who do you think you are, calling me a dobe?! You don't even know me!"

Sasuke didn't seem deterred. "Omae wa Uzumaki Naruto desu," he retorted, spitting my name as if it were some poison he'd had the misfortune of tasting. "And you, dobe, are not good enough to be here, let alone work here."

I was more than ready to beat him to a pulp at that moment. Honestly, the guy had some _nerve_ calling me a blockhead and telling me that I was basically a failure.

I was just about to punch the living daylights out of him when Itachi appeared behind him and caught my fist over his shoulder, my knuckles just inches away from Sasuke's face.

"Otouto," he said warningly, scowling at Sasuke.

Sasuke huffed at the scowl and turned away from Itachi and I saw through my anger how childish he looked, with the pout of his kissable lips and crossed arms.

Wait.

Did I just say _kissable_…?

Before I could even comprehend that I had thought Itachi's –_Itachi_'s- younger brother was kiss-worthy, Itachi had muttered something under his breath before Sasuke grunted, nodded, and moved away from him before turning towards me.

"Prove to me," he said, staring into my eyes challengingly. "Prove to me you're good at what you do and maybe I'll consider cutting you some slack."

Without really knowing it, I scoffed and raised my chin high. "You're on, pretty boy! I'll show you tonight! I'll show you how much I, the great Uzumaki Naruto of Hokage, rocks! Then I'll make you eat your words, so you'd better be there to lose, teme!"

Sasuke just made an odd little sound (I think it was 'hn'… He won't tell me, even now… I'm guessing it's an emo thing) before smirking and turning around and leaving the room.

I had forgotten Itachi was still there and only realized his presence when he coughed pointedly and sighed.

"Baka…," he said softly. "You're two minutes late."

I raised a brow in confusion for a moment, still a little pumped up with adrenaline from the argument I'd had with Sasuke, before I realized what Itachi was talking about.

Then I shrieked- I mean, _yelled_, and grabbed the black and orange guitar before sprinting out of the dressing room, skidding to a stop when I realized I had no idea where the stage was.

Itachi seemed to read my mind and, shaking his head exasperatedly, walked off in front of me.

After several dark hallways and one particularly large room, we finally reached the backstage and for a moment, I got really nervous.

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm a professional. I'm Uzumaki Naruto, Hokage no Kyuubi (or, Kyuubi of Hokage, as I'm better known here). I'm used to performing in front of large crowds of people. But from where I stood, I could hear shouts and cheers that could've split even _my _eardrums, and that's saying something, seeing as I can stand a _lot_ of noise.

"You'll be great," assured Itachi from next to me, sounding stoic but caring at the same time (only Itachi…).

I nodded nervously and stepped closer to the drawn red velvet curtains. Gripping the guitar tightly, I was suddenly struck with something.

I turned a little and stared at Itachi wide-eyed. "The guitar--"

Itachi cut me off with a raised hand. "I've already asked one of your friends to tune it for you. It might not be familiar at the beginning, but you'll have plenty of time to tune it yourself later."

Relieved, I turned back towards the curtains.

From where I was, I could hear the announcer call out my band's name and I gulped.

"Ganbatte," murmured Itachi, then he disappeared to the side.

There was something else being said loudly over the speakers and I heard more cheers as well as Kiba's howl of triumph from the other side.

It was all too soon when the curtains pulled away and I was greeted with the sight of thousands of faces screaming and shouting up at me in expectation.

I froze for the second time that day and Sakura, from where she stood to my right behind her synthesizer, looked at me worriedly as Kiba started the song I'd only recently wrote.

I sweated. And I mean, really sweated. Like, bathing-in-my-sweat sweated. I probably would've been embarrassed if I weren't so freaked.

Of course, Sasuke, aka the Teme, decided to show up right in front of my line of blurry vision and my blood started to boil again as I saw the disgusted look on his face.

_Why you…_

With much more force than necessary, I strung the first few notes of my guitar, surprisingly keeping track with Kiba's drumming and Sakura's background tunes, despite the fact that I was probably frozen there for more than an eternity.

I heard people cheer louder, but my eyes were glued on Sasuke's abysmal orbs. I could see some form of surprise in them, but what made me smirk and string a few more notes in a confident and nearly smug way was the ever so faint hint of astonishment hidden behind that. I could've sworn the guy was fainting by the time I opened my mouth and did my magic.

* * *

**Tbc…**

* * *

Kaeru: Gomen! But I couldn't find a song that would fit what Naruto would sing, so, I left it out. Gimme suggestions, people! All the music I've been listening to have been depressing lately, so, yeah. I didn't want Naruto to sing something so depressing at the very beginning. And… Well, how about a peace offering? You gimme a song, and I might get back to updating again. XD.

PS: Please note that there are two ways of speaking in Japanese; the polite way, and the familiar way, which is less polite and only used between families or close friends. I tried making Naruto speak a less formal version (seriously; you can't expect him to be respectful, can you?) and Sasuke in a formal but brief and vaguely-impolite way. But since I'm still learning myself, I'll probably put more formal dialogue than informal in (formal Japanese is basic Japanese, which is for beginners). Anyways, jaa!


End file.
